NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Hulme on Wednesday said Jeremy Josh Garvey, 27, had been on parole and on bail when he and two other men broke into Phillip Steele's home armed with a machete and a baseball bat.

Justice Hulme said the ferocity of the attack on Mr Steele was graphically illustrated by the crime scene photographs where blood could be seen spattered throughout the house.

Garvey, a drug addict who had a long criminal history, was jailed for a maximum 34 years and three months and will be eligible for parole in September 2044.

His co-offender, heroin addict Luke Jones, 26, who was found guilty of murder by a Newcastle Supreme Court jury, had been on a good behaviour bond and parole when he took part in what the judge described as a "completely senseless" crime.

Jones was jailed for 28 years and nine months and will be eligible for parole in March 2041.

The third intruder, who pleaded guilty to murder and cannot be named, was jailed in 2020 for 15 years with a minimum 11 years and three months.

Garvey and the two other men were wearing gloves and makeshift face masks cut from a black bed sheet when they broke into Mr Steele's Whitebridge home in NSW's Hunter region in the early hours of December 17, 2018.

Mr Steele, 60, a small-time drug dealer, was repeatedly stabbed and as he lay dying told his two brothers: "I never thought it would come to this. This is not worth $2000."

He had suffered 23 wounds from the machete wielded by Garvey and 28 blunt force injuries from a baseball bat or fist during the attack.

Garvey, who pleaded guilty to murder, had been to Mr Steele's home earlier that day when he impersonated a police officer and stole his wallet and $1000 cash.

Later that night after losing heavily on the pokies, Garvey suggested going back to Mr Steele's home to rob him again.

Garvey, who had the machete hidden under his jacket, and the two other men arrived at the house where Mr Steele lived with two brothers, Trevor and Gary, at about 2.30am.

Garvey climbed through a window into Trevor's bedroom. Terrified, he ran through the house pleading for the intruders not to hurt him.

Running to Phillip's room, Trevor called out:"People are here, and they have knives."

Phillip ran into the hallway and grabbed Garvey around the neck.

The pair wrestled up and down the hallway before ending up on the floor when Garvey stabbed him multiple times with the machete.

Garvey called out "can you help me up?" before he and Jones hit Mr Steele repeatedly with the baseball bat.

Trevor Steele, who was still in Phillip's room, called the police, telling them the intruders looked like Ninja warriors with their black face masks.

Gary Steele, who passed away in 2019, was also woken by the noise and went out into the hallway using his walker.

The two brothers found Phillip lying on the floor, semi-conscious and bleeding heavily.

Just three months earlier Garvey, high on ice, had been involved in a fatal high speed car crash at Charlestown in Newcastle.

Garvey was driving a stolen Subaru WRX on the Pacific Highway at speeds of more than 130km/h when he tried to swerve around a truck, lost control, mounted the gutter and became airborne before crashing into a service station and parked car.

Garvey's 18-weeks pregnant friend, Kiera Forster, 32, also known as Keira Barrett, had been in the back passenger seat with her boyfriend and was critically injured.

She was placed in an induced coma but she and her unborn baby died on October 12.

Australian Associated Press